New York State Senate Republican Leader Rob Ortt Calls For More Security Along International Borders

Lewiston, NY- New York State Senate Republican Leader Rob Ortt was joined today by members of the New York State Assembly, local government officials and members of law enforcement to call for more security along the Northern Border – and revisit policies that New York State have enacted that entice illegal aliens to flock to the state. 

In recent weeks, rafts have been spotted crossing the Niagara River from Canada to the United States, residents along the shores of the Niagara River and Lake Ontario have raised concerns over an increase in trespassers and suspicious vehicles, and drones have been caught ferrying loads of drugs, weapons and cash between the United States and Canada. 

“These examples are just the latest in what I see as New York Democrats devaluing what it means to be a citizen of our country and legal resident of our state. New York Democrats are more concerned with the woke ideology of a Sanctuary State, welcoming illegal aliens and writing blank checks to support them all while slashing the budgets of our schools and essential services to taxpayers in order to provide over $4.3 Billion to asylum seekers,”  said Senate Minority Leader Rob Ortt. 

Over the past year, nearly 92,000 illegal crossings were reported here in New York State – and thanks to policies set forth by far-left Democrats, law-enforcement agencies are handcuffed when it comes to dealing with the problem. New York State policies such as the “Green Light Law”and Executive Orders preventing local and state law enforcement from working with their federal counterparts have made New York State a refuge for illegal immigration. 

“Assuring the safety of our communities is the paramount role of the government. To do this, we must be certain that our borders are secure and that everyone entering our country is properly vetted with health and criminal background checks. Further, recent New York State laws have severely limited the ability of our law enforcement agencies and border security officers to ensure compliance with immigration rules. Action must be taken now to reverse these laws in order to provide law enforcement and border officers the proper tools to protect communities,” said Assemblyman Mike Norris.

“The Biden administration has failed to secure the southern border, and we are now starting to see the surge of illegal immigration on the northern border particularly on our own Niagara River because of it. There are not enough CBP agents and migrant facilities currently to control each border. Until policies such as “remain in Mexico” and “catch & deport” are put back into place, we will continue to see wave after wave of illegal immigration,” said Assemblyman Angello Morinello. 

Last week, Senate Minority Leader Ortt along with Assembly Minority Leader Will Barclay wrote a letter to Governor Hochul, urging her to activate the New York State National Guard to not only protect our borders with Canada, but to assist with securing the Southern Border as well. 

Kathy Hochul has every right to deploy the New York National Guard to support the mission of Texas and to secure the Northern Border. Senator Ortt knows this first hand, while enlisted in the New York National Guard, he was deployed to Arizona in support of Operation Jump Start – in which the National Guard was deployed to four states along the Southern Border to assist the US Border Patrol in protecting our nation. 

“Our constituents are demanding action, leadership, and results in response to the migrant crisis. An effective response is long overdue. Our state must place the needs of our law-abiding, legal residents before those who illegally enter our country and seek to exploit our laws for personal gain,” concluded Leader Ortt.